1955 Champions Cup

The 1955 Champions Cup was the 9th official, and 10th overall edition of the Champions Cup, the deciding game(s) of the NERC season. This installment was played between the Westchester Racers and The Bronx Bears. The Racers were appearing in their first ever Champions Cup, while the Bears were looking to win it all after falling short in 1954.

The Racers edged out the Bears in a tight 24-21 win, becoming the 6th team in NERC history to win a Champions Cup.

Opening
It was a cool, cloudy day in New York City. Despite this, there was excitement all around, as it was the day of the biggest game in Runty, the Champions Cup Final. It was a matchup that had already been played in the semifinals. The Bronx Bears upset the Westchester Racers in Yonkers, but now there was a chance for revenge. Fans from all over the NYC metro area flocked to the New York Runty Park to take in the action. Despite the Racers being the designated home team, their fans took up about 40% of the stadium, and were outnumbered by Bears supporters, who filled up around half of the capacity. Neutral fans took up the remaining 10%.

First Quarter
The Bears won the jump-ball, and controlled possession for the first few minutes. 5:42 in, team captain Lucas Sizemore punched a cross past Racers RU John Whyte, giving the Bronx a 4-0 lead. However, just 3 minutes later, the Racers would tie the game, after C Samuel McGinn fired home a loose ball. After that goal, the Bears would control the ball once again. With around 7 minutes to play, they had two great chances in quick succession, but Whyte did well to deflect those dangerous shots wide for points. However, the Bears would eventually break through, as Lucas Sizemore kicked a beautiful pass to a wide-open Harvey Joachim, who easily scored to put the Bears up by 6. In the last minutes of the quarter, the Racers controlled the ball, looking to get a goal back. They got some good chances, but only managed to kick two points before the quarter ended. After 24 minutes of play, the Bears held a 1-goal lead over Westchester, who were gaining momentum.

Second Quarter
The Racers started the second quarter off with a pummeling of shots, managing to get a point from Bob Jones and a goal from Joe Blake within the first 4 minutes. This gave them their first lead of the game. They weren’t done yet, as they pressed their defense forward. LB Jerry Barnes punched a cross home for a goal, and LFB kicked a rare point, and the Racers had increased their lead to 6. The Bears offense struggled throughout the quarter, as just 4 of the 24 minutes played were in Westchester’s half. They didn’t manage a single point in the frame, the first time since 1951 a team in the Champions Cup had gone an entire quarter without scoring a point. The Racers added a point in the dying seconds, putting them up by 7. At the half, the Bears were in serious trouble, and needed a halftime spark to get themselves back in. On the other end of the field, the Racers needed to keep doing what they were doing, and they would have their first ever Champions Cup title.

Third Quarter
The Bears must’ve had a passionate speech from coach Grenville Gold at halftime, because they looked like an entirely different team in the third quarter. Just 90 seconds in, CF Freddy Falconer blasted a shot home from close range, cutting the deficit to 3. The Racers would score a point on their next rush, but that would be their only real chance of the quarter. For the remaining 22 minutes, the Bears would control possession, though the Racer defense did well to limit their chances. There would be no scoring play for around 10 minutes after the Westchester point, until a shot from Bronx HF Val Victors hit the crossbar and went out of play for a point. The Bears would continue to dominate possession for the remainder of the quarter, but their only other scoring play would be another point from Harvey Joachim. Despite the dominant play, the Racers defense did well to limit the Bears to 6 points. After 3 quarters, Westchester held a 2-point lead. It had come down to the fourth quarter to determine the winner.

Fourth Quarter
The first few minutes of the fourth quarter were slow, so that there could be minimal mistakes. At the 5 and 7-minute marks, the Racers would kick two points, putting themselves up by a goal once more. After the second point, the Bears would have a period of possession. They scored a quick point, then Harvey Joachim scored a nice goal, curling a kick into the top right corner of the net from mid-range, a shot which John Whyte could do nothing about. This goal put the Bears up by 1, their first lead since early in the second quarter. Their supporters erupted, and they looked to have the upper hand. They managed to slow to pace down for the next few minutes, but with 8:59 on the clock, Racers LF Steve Bezuidenhout, from out of nowhere, blasted a kick into the top-left corner of the net, giving the Racers the lead back. THey were up by 3, but the game still wasn’t over. However, the Racers did a great job at slowing the pace down, which is what the Bears unsuccessfully tried to do. They had some chances late to get the lead back, but they were all either blocked or saved. The final whistle went, and the Racers exploded with joy. They had become the first of the 1952 expansion teams to win a Champions Cup. On the other end, the Bears were stuck with the taste of defeat for the second year in a row.